Eyeball Review

Blue Microphones first mic company to get serious into the world of video products with their Eyeball webcam. If you don’t know already, Blue Microphones makes really high quality recording microphones which are used by recording stars such as Bob Dylan and Lil’ Wayne. Unfortunately, many of their professional mics, however, can range well into a thousand dollars a pop. Thankfully, the Eyeball is one of its few devices that can be purchased for less than $100. The Eyeball packs a extremely unique design for a mic, and features a hide-away camera in the left bezel of the lens. But now the real question: does the Eyeball stand up to Blue’s reputation of amazing audio and video quality? Find out after the break.

The eyeball spots a really interesting design. The entire webcam is shaped like a giant microphone, with a really miniscule video lens popping out of the left side of the microphone. The microphone and lens unit are connected to a folding hinge that allows the entire webcam to be easily attached to an LCD display or the top of notebook. The mic is also very travel-friendly. The mic and be folded into the plastic cover along with the USB cable can be enclosed within. It is truthfully unique design and is arguably one of the key selling points, even though it’s by far not the thinnest mic on the market to date.

Installation and usage of the webcam is almost idiot-proof. If you own a Mac, all you need to do is plug in the mic into the computer via USB. That’s it! The Mac already connects it. The driverless webcam is TRULY plug and play. I also tested the mic on Windows XP and it immediately recognized the webcam and the USB audio microphone. Immediately we were able to enjoy the Eyeball. I was able to take photos through Photobooth, record high quality audio on Garageband, and shoot video. Later versions of Windows (including Windows 7 and Vista) along with Mac OS X Snow Leopard are also supported and is just as simple to get up and running.

The eyeball has a sturdy construction and seems very durable. The mini USB connection is located on the back of the microphone. The cord is mini USB to USB. I really enjoyed how the camera lens could be pushed inside the mic, guaranteeing that you won’t be filmed unknowingly. To hideaway the lens, you just need to firmly push your finger at the lens. is safely tucked away inside the unit. If the Eyeball ever ends up in a James Bond film, th
ough, it will be for its audio recording abilities rather than any claims of stealthiness or visual output, as we’ll soon find out.

We put the Eyeball through three tests. The first test was using the Eyeball to take still shots like a tethered digital camera. The second test was an audio-only test where we recorded various sounds and recordings, and the final test relied on YouTube’s webcam for uploading videos instantaneously from a webcam.

In practice, we found the audio quality impressive but the visual quality sorely lacking. The Eyeball claims to sport an HD lens but our test shots look anything but high definition; a close read finds that you only get a full 30 frames per second at 640×480, not unlike most mid-range webcams. We recorded everything from our own voices to music being played back from a set of computer speakers and found the Eyeball did a great job of recording the audio. Playback of our recordings came back clear and without any noticeable echo or artifacting. Video and still shot testing was not as impressive. We took several over a dozen still shots of a stack of DVDs and the picture below was our best result for a static image: there’s visible pixelation as well as less-than-ideal contrast and exposure.

For video testing we uploaded a handful of short videos to YouTube. The videos are taken several feet from a small color TV playing broadcast versions of The Mummy and Top Gun. The videos really tell the whole story. The audio from the movie comes in clearly, while the picture suffers from slow exposure correction, block artifacting due to a low bitrate, and overall poor quality.

The eyeball retails for $100, but whether or not that price is a strong value depends entirely on your intended uses. For those who are concerned with the absolute best quality in audio recording from a webcam, the Eyeball could be a good choice. However, if you care at all about picture quality you may want to look elsewhere for your webcam needs. For podcasters or individuals that need a USB audio microphone the Eyeball could double as a second-rate webcam while serving as a primary, quality audio recording device.

For now, we’d recommend that Blue sticks to audio recording, where it clearly can produce an excellent product; the company’s audio-only Snowball has earned praise of its own, and for good reason. The video portion of the Eyeball, though, produces results we would have expected from years-old products and makes this a rather expensive proposition better served by webcams that don’t quite have the audio mastery but produce a cleaner picture.